BMC plans Rs 32-crore Shilpgram in Jogeshwari

Artful Space

Imagine the city’s Gateway of India, the recently-inaugurated Rajabai Tower and Agra’s Taj Mahal made of water. This will soon be a reality at the proposed Shilpgram or arts and crafts village at Jogeshwari, a first in the city. According to the civic body’s garden cell’s plan, in a 15-minute show, the water fountain at Shilpgram will take shapes of the heritage structures of the country.

Touted to be the only ‘hand-made’ arts and craft village in the city, Shilpgram will have shops selling traditional wooden, metal, stone, glass and teracotta items. In the central area, there will be a section where visitors can try their hand at pottery and make toys, according to officials from the garden cell. Shilpgram is slated to come up on a plot near the Buddhist caves in Andheri (East) by September 2016 at a cost of Rs 32 crore.

Traditional village scenes and occupations will come alive through life-size clay models. “We do not have many cultural spaces in the city, especially in the suburbs, and we want to create a big one.The site is right on the Jogeshwari-Vikhroli Link Road and in close proximity to the international airport. It will be a great place for outdoor activities for people in the suburbs,” said SVR Srinivas, additional municipal commissioner, eastern suburbs.

According to the plan, there will be at least three amphitheatres, including a water-fountain amphitheatre, as well as round-landscaped, steeped gardens and natural contour rock landscape at the site.

Officials said the shops would be in geometric shapes and could be observed from circular viewing decks.

At present, garden cell officials are levelling the undulated plot. They had visited the hi-tech city at Hyderabad last month. There will be an area for cultural shows such as Kathakali and Bharatnatyam as well as puppet shows from across the country.

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